Dual-tube stereoscope

ABSTRACT

Presented herein are methods, systems, devices, and computer-readable media for dual-tube stereoscopes. Embodiments may include an elongated body comprising a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end having at least one proximal opening, the distal end having first and second distal openings; a first waveguide coupled to the first distal opening; and a second waveguide coupled to the second distal opening. There may also be optics situated near the proximal end of the elongated body and configured to receive light from the first and second waveguides and to transmit the received light through the at least one proximal opening onto a single light-receiving device. Some embodiments include processing a single received digital image, comprising two sub-images, to produce two images viewable stereoscopically, for example.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/230,570, filed Jul. 31, 2009, entitled Stereo Endoscope System, toKurtis Keller et al, which is incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments herein relate to scopes, such as endoscopes, borescopes,and microscopes. Embodiments relate more specifically to dual-tubestereoscopes.

BACKGROUND

Endoscopes, borescopes, and microscopes typically provide a single pathbetween an object and the imaging plane or the eye(s) of the viewer. Anendoscope is an optical viewing device typically consisting of a rigidor flexible elongated body with an eyepiece at the proximal end, anobjective lens at the distal end, and whose two ends are linked togetherby relay optics, fiber bundles, or other waveguides. Borescopes andmicroscopes are similarly constructed. The optical system can besurrounded by optical fibers or other light sources used forillumination of the remote object. An internal image of the illuminatedobject is formed by the objective lens and magnified by the eyepiece,which presents it to the viewer's eye.

Endoscopes are typically used to view the inside of the human body.There are numerous types of endoscopes, including: laparoscopes,endoscopes, fetoscopes, bronchoscopes, etc. Borescopes are used forinspection work, to view areas that are otherwise inaccessible, such asinside engines, industrial gas turbines, steam turbines, etc.Microscopes are typically used to view small objects in a magnified way.

Scopes that have a single optical path are limited in that they provideonly a monoscopic view of the object being viewed. Further, previousmethods of adding a second optical path to allow stereoscopic viewinghave been cumbersome. These problems and others are addressed by thetechniques, systems, methods, devices and computer-readable mediadescribed herein.

SUMMARY

Presented herein are techniques, methods, systems, devices, andcomputer-readable media for dual-tube stereoscopes. In some embodiments,a scope may include an elongated body comprising a proximal end and adistal end, the proximal end having at least one proximal opening, thedistal end having combined first and second distal openings; a firstwaveguide coupled to the first distal opening; and a second waveguidecoupled to the second distal opening. There may also be optics situatednear the proximal end of the elongated body and configured to receivelight from the first and second waveguides and to transmit the receivedlight through the at least one proximal opening onto a singlelight-receiving device.

Various techniques for producing dual images using a single camera and adual-tube endoscope described herein may include, in variousembodiments, receiving light through two distal lenses; transmitting thereceived light to two waveguides; transmitting light from the twowaveguides onto a single light-receiving device as a single imagecontaining two sub-images; and processing the single image to producetwo images based at least in part on the two sub-images.

Some embodiments for processing dual-tube stereoscope images includereceiving a single digital image from a single light-receiving device,the single digital image comprising two sub-images, the two sub-imageshaving been received at the single light-receiving device from optics,which in turn received light from dual waveguides in a scope; andprocessing the single digital image in order to produce one output imagefor each of the two sub-images.

Numerous other embodiments are described throughout herein.

For purposes of summarizing the invention and the advantages achievedover the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the invention aredescribed herein. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarilyall such objects or advantages need to be achieved in accordance withany particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the artwill recognize that the invention may be embodied or carried out in amanner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantagesas taught or suggested herein, without necessarily achieving otherobjects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.

All of these embodiments are intended to be within the scope hereindisclosed. These and other embodiments will become readily apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following detailed description andfrom referring to the attached figures, the invention not being limitedto any particular disclosed embodiment(s).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a first dual-tube stereoscope.

FIG. 2 illustrates a second dual-tube stereoscope.

FIG. 3 illustrates a third dual-tube stereoscope.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a technique for dual-tubestereoscopy.

FIG. 5 illustrates a fourth dual-tube stereoscope.

FIG. 6 illustrates a fifth dual-tube stereoscope.

FIG. 7 illustrates a system for dual-tube stereoscopy.

FIG. 8A illustrates a first image related to dual-tube stereoscopy.

FIG. 8B illustrates a second image related to dual-tube stereoscopy.

FIG. 9A illustrates a first example scope mount.

FIG. 9B illustrates a second example scope mount.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Various embodiments herein provide for dual-tube stereo endoscopes.Consider an endoscope inside the body, taking images of a colon, forexample. In order to view the colon stereoscopically, a left eye imageand a right eye image must be produced. One approach would be to use twocameras at the ends of the endoscope, one of which would take a righteye view, while the other would take a left eye view. Together, thesetwo images would enable stereoscopic viewing. A problem with thisapproach is that the resolution of these cameras, given that they mustbe very small, would be quite low. Further, when sterilizing theequipment, the camera and the endoscope would typically be put in anautoclave, and it is difficult to protect electronic equipment in theautoclave. Another approach would be to use two optical paths thatconnect the distal end of the endoscope to two cameras at the proximalend of the endoscope. An issue with this approach would be that thestereo endoscope's cameras would be bulky and heavy and thereforedifficult to use.

As described herein, there is another approach: using a dual-tube scopeand providing dual images on a single imager, such as those typicallyused with single-tube scopes. In some embodiments, the dual-tubestereoscopes are usable with a standard single-tube scope's mount, whichhas a single camera. The embodiments include dual, parallel opticalpaths which can each have a waveguide. As used herein, a ‘waveguide’ isa broad term and is intended to encompass its plain and ordinarymeaning, including without limitation, any device or group of devicesthat can transmit light along a path or in a direction, such as relayoptics, coherent fiber bundles, fiber optics, or other waveguides. Thescope may also include fiber optics leading to the objective end, orlights mounted at the objective end, designed to illuminate the insideof the body or other objects being viewed with the scope. Light reflectsoff of objects and enters dual lenses at the distal end and passesthrough waveguides to the exit optics, which prepare the light forcapture by a single light-receiving device. As used herein, a‘light-receiving device’ is a broad term encompassing its plain andordinary meaning, including without limitation, an apparatus for takingphotos or video, such as any of the standard cameras used in currentsingle-tube scopes. The resolution of the light-receiving device, suchas a camera and its imager, can be a currently used resolution, forexample, full high definition (“HD”) or “quarter HD.” For example, afive-millimeter scope may have a theoretical resolution limit somewhereunder five hundred lines, and the standard HD imager or quarter-HDimager may be able to capture images above that resolution.

As noted above, exit optics may be used to transmit the dual imagesthrough the dual light paths and reproject them onto the single imager.There may be a single, shared-exit optical device (e.g., a lens or agroup of lenses) or dual-exit devices (e.g., dual lenses or dual groupsof lenses). A single-exit optical device may combine the two opticalpaths and reproject them onto the single camera, which has built-inoptics to refocus on its imager(s). Dual-exit optics, one for eachoptical path, may also be used to focus and or project the light intothe single camera. The optics used by the camera to focus the dualoptical paths onto the imager may be any known optics, lens, or set oflenses, such as 20 mm, 24 mm, 28 mm, 35 mm optics or lenses and thelike. In some embodiments, a scope's camera may have multiple individualimagers, each viewing a different color band of the full image, thedifferent bands of light being separated by beam splitters or other suchdevices.

After the light from the dual-tube scope has been projected onto thecamera's imager(s), processing may take place using a computer or otherdevice to calibrate the images, correct for distortions, separate thetwo images, and the like. Once these dual images are received, they maybe used to display a left-eye image and a right-eye image to an enduser.

Additionally, more than two light paths may be used. For example, theremay be four lenses at the distal end of the scope. Those four lenses maybe attached to four waveguides and the four waveguides may transmitlight to a single or to multiple optics at the proximal end of thescope. The optics at the proximal end of the scope may prepare the lightfor acquisition by a single camera. This single image with the foursub-images may then be processed by a computer or multiple computers, bya processor, or by multiple processors in order to produce four imagesthat can be used to produce stereoscopic or depth information, forexample.

Examples of Dual-Tube Stereoscopes

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer system 190 attached to a singlelight-receiving device 180. The light-receiving device 180 may be acamera, such as an HD camera, a quarter-HD camera, or any otherappropriate device. The single light-receiving device 180 may include asingle imager 181 and focusing optics 182. As noted above, the focusingoptics 182 can include one or more lenses. The focusing optics 182 mayinclude known optics, a lens, or set of lenses, such as 20 mm, 24 mm, 28mm, or 35 mm optics. The focusing optics, in some embodiments, maycapture the light from the scope 110 and project it onto an imager 182.Imager 182 may include anything capable of capturing an image, such as acharge-coupled device (“CCD”), a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor(CMOS) device, etc. Optics 182 may be magnification optics 182, and, insome embodiments, magnification optics 182 may combine light from thelight paths and project it as a single image (e.g., comprising dualsub-images) to the single camera 180. Further, in some embodiments,optics 182 may manipulate and/or adjust light from the scope to bedirectly eye-viewable by human users without the need for prisms.

A scope 110 is also part of the system 100. The scope 110 may includelenses 140 and 141 at the distal end of the scope 110, as well aswaveguides 120 and 121 within the scope. As discussed above, thewaveguides 120 and 121 may transmit light to optics 130. The optics 130may prepare the light for transmission to the single camera 180. Thelight may pass through a single or multiple openings at the proximal endof the scope 110 (not illustrated in FIG. 1). In some embodiments, thewaveguides 120 and 121 may be suspended inside the scope 110 withsupport structures, such as metal components. In some embodiments, thevolume inside the scope 110 that is not occupied by the waveguides 120and 121 may be filled with fiber bundles, fiber optics, etc, that maytransmit light from the proximal end to the distal end of the scope 110.Further, the distal end of the scope 110 may be optically clear,translucent, or the like in order to allow transmission of the lightthrough the fiber bundles to objects that could be viewed by a user ofthe scope.

Single-Exit Optics

FIGS. 2 and 3 show two additional systems 200 and 300 that includescopes 210 and 310. Turning to FIG. 2, we see that a computer 290 isattached to a mount 293 that includes a single light-receiving device280 and that the scope 210 has dual openings 240 and 241 at the distalend that are attached to entry optics 260 and 261. Entry optics 260 and261 can include any standard optics or lenses usable with a scope andmay have any appropriate field of view, such as 70 to 90 degrees.Further, in some embodiments, there may also be a prism, mirror, orother device at the distal end (not pictured) that allows the scope tobe used to see to the side, at an angle, “rooftop” or top-down, or otherviews. These can be any appropriate angle, such as 15 to 30, 45, 90,etc. The distal lenses 260 and 261 transmit the received light throughwaveguides 220 and 221. As pictured in FIG. 2, waveguides 220 and 221can include relay optics 250. In FIG. 2, scope 210 includes a field stop235 and single-exit optics 230. The field stop 235 may be a reticle oranything else capable of limiting light passing through an optical path.There may be one field stop 235 for each waveguide 220 and 221, or theremay be a single field stop device 235 with openings for each opticalpath. A field stop 235 may be part of a waveguide 220 or 221, coupled toa waveguide 220 or 221 or may be separate from the correspondingwaveguide 220 or 221. The field stop 235 and exit optics 230 prepare thelight received from the waveguides 220 and 221 for projection onto thesingle camera 280. In some embodiments, the images produced by exitoptics 230 are directly viewable so that an operator looking at theproximal end of the scope would be able to see the images transmittedthrough the scope using the naked eye. Scope 210 may also include ascope mount 299 designed to couple to the mount 293 that includes thecamera 280. In some embodiments, scope mount 299 will snap onto mount293. In other embodiments, scope mount 299 will screw on, haveattachments, or otherwise be capable of being tightened or locked inorder to help prevent axial rotation of the camera 280 with respect tothe scope 210. Examples of such mounts are those from Storz.

After light has been transmitted through optics 230 onto the singlecamera 280, the single image, with its two sub-images, is transmitted tocomputer system 290. At computer system 290, the two sub-images may becalibrated and/or otherwise corrected. In some embodiments, processingthe two sub-images includes calibrating and/or (re-)aligning the twosub-images, if the scope has been bent or twisted, or is otherwise outof alignment. Consider FIGS. 8A and 8B. FIG. 8A depicts a first singleimage 800 that includes two sub-images 810 and 811. The two sub-imagesare not aligned. Processing the two sub-images 810 and 811 may includetranslating and/or rotating the sub-images 810 and 811 in order toproperly align them, as depicted in FIG. 8B, which depicts an image 801with two calibrated sub-images 820 and 821. In some embodiments, the useof field stops, such as field stop 235 may make the edges of sub-images810 and 811 crisper, sharper, better-defined, or the like. This mayallow automatic calibration and/or alignment to occur more easily. Forexample, if the edges of sub-images 810 and 811 are crisp, then it maybe possible to easily detect the edges of the sub-images using, forexample, thresholding and/or silhouetting methods, and to determinewhether the sub-images are at the same pixel height in the capturedsingle image, for example. In some embodiments, if the two sub-images810 and 811 are not at the same pixel height, then they may bemanipulated (e.g., shifted) in order to become aligned. As anotherexample, when correcting for twisting or torsion of a scope, the crispedges of each sub-image, as enhanced by use of reticle or field stops(e.g., field stop 535 in FIG. 5), allow the software to quickly detect achange in sub-image location on the full image and track and repositionthe scope's calibration and/or distortion correcting map to this newposition. Having crisp edges of sub-images 810 and 811 may also make iteasier to detect the sub-images and their extents.

Processing the two sub-images may also include correcting for distortionin the two sub-images. The distortion may be caused by the optics in thescope including the distal lenses, the optical relays, and/or the exitoptics. Correcting for distortion in images received through lenses canbe performed by processes known in the art. Processing the twosub-images may also include zooming the images in or out, detection ofzooming performed by camera or coupler, scaling the images to be largeror smaller, or the like. This may be useful, in some embodiments, whenthe zoom on a camera is not the desired zoom, for example.

After the two sub-images have been calibrated and corrected fordistortion, the two sub-images can be separated. Separating the twosub-images into two images, in some embodiments, may include writing aportion of the corrected single image corresponding to the firstsub-image into one portion of memory and writing the portion of thecorrected single image corresponding to the second sub-image intoanother portion of memory. These two images, once processed andseparated, can be shown to an operator as a dual image (e.g., imagepair) or as a stereoscopic image. Displaying these two images as astereoscopic image can allow an operator to view objects seen throughthe scope stereoscopically, “in 3D,”—almost as if the operator's eyeswere observing from the end of the scope. In the case of an endoscope,for example, if the doctor using the endoscope is stereoscopicallyviewing images from inside the body, the appearance of the stereo imagesmay be such that the doctor can perceive depth corresponding to thedepth of the objects inside the body.

In some embodiments, the sub-images received through the distal lensesmay be diffraction-limited or approximately diffraction-limited. Forexample, the sub-images received through the distal lenses transmittedthrough the two waveguides and through the optics onto a single cameramay have a resolution lower than that of the single camera. In someembodiments, diffraction may limit the resolution of light that can befocused by standard optics. The equation or calculation usable todetermine the diffraction limit using standard spherical ground opticsmay be:

Sin(θ)=1.22*λ/D

Where

-   -   θ=Resolving angle    -   λ=Central wavelength    -   D=Entrance pupil diameter        Further, in some embodiments, the single camera may have more        than N times the resolution of the approximately        diffraction-limited images passing through the waveguides, where        N equals the number of optical paths. For example, in some        embodiments, the single camera may have more than twice the        resolution so that it may receive images from two light paths        (e.g., through two distal lenses to waveguides and associated        exit optics). In this respect, in some embodiments, the        resolution captured through the scope may be maintained even        though a single camera or other light-receiving device is used.

Dual-Exit Optics

FIG. 3 shows a system 300 including a scope 310 with dual-exit optics330 and 331. The scope 310 includes dual distal lenses 360 and 361,which can transmit light through dual waveguides 320 and 321, throughrelay optics 350, and through field stop 335 to the dual exit optics 330and 331. The scope 310 also includes an optional scope mount 399designed to couple to mount 393, which contains single camera 380. Lightreceived through the distal lenses 360 and 361, transmitted through thetwo waveguides 320 and 321, and transmitted through the dual-exit optics330 and 331 may produce a single image on the single camera 380. Thatsingle image produced on camera 380 may include two sub-imagescorresponding to the light received in each of the dual distal lenses360 and 361. That single image may be sent to computer 390 and thesingle image with the two sub-images may be processed in a mannersimilar to that described with respect to FIG. 2. Further, inembodiments with dual-exit optics 330 and 331, an operator may be ableto see dual images. The dual images may be used to produce astereoscopic effect for an operator.

Methods for Dual-Tube Stereoscopes

FIG. 4 depicts a method 400 of processing received light for dual tubestereoscopes. In block 410, light is received through dual distallenses. This is described above. In block 420, the light receivedthrough the dual distal lenses is transmitted through the waveguides. Asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3, the waveguides may includerelay optics. As depicted in FIG. 6, the waveguides may also includecoherent fiber bundles or fiber optics 620 and 621. Whether coherentfiber bundles, fiber optics, relay optics, or other types of waveguidesare used, the light received from the dual distal lenses is passedthrough the two waveguides in block 420 and transmitted through opticsto a single camera in block 430. The light may also optionally passthrough a field stop before being transmitted to the single camera.

As described above with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3, the optics may be atthe proximal end of the scope and may include a single optical devicefor capturing and transmitting light from multiple waveguides, or mayinclude multiple optical devices (e.g., one for each waveguide).Regardless of the number and type of optics used, the optics transmitsthe light to a single camera in block 430.

In block 440, the single camera's image is processed to produce twoimages, one of each of which is associated with the light path from thetwo distal lenses. Processing the single camera's image (with its twosub-images) to produce two separate images may include calibratingand/or aligning the image and correcting distortion in the image inorder to produce two images. This is described elsewhere herein and anexample is shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. Calibrating and/or aligning the twosub-images may include rotating the sub-images or translating thesub-images. Images that have passed through field stops may havesharper, crisper, or otherwise more detectable edges. In someembodiments, images with sharper, crisper, or otherwise more detectableedges may be easier to calibrate. In some embodiments, calibrating thetwo sub-images also comprises skewing one or both of the two images.When, as described above, there are more than two tubes in the scope(and more than two corresponding paths through which light travels tothe single camera) each of the sub-images may be calibrated separately,or all of them may be calibrated in a similar manner. Block 440 may alsoinclude up-sampling of down-sampling the received image or sub-images,for example in order to compensate for the zoom of a lens or tocompensate for the diffraction-limited or approximatelydiffraction-limited resolution.

The blocks of method 400 may be performed in a different order,additional blocks may be performed as part of the method, and/or blocksmay be omitted from the method.

More Embodiments of Dual-Tube Stereoscopes

FIG. 5 illustrates a system 500 including a dual-tube stereoscope 510.The dual-tube stereoscope 510 includes dual distal lenses 560 and 561,dual waveguides 520 and 521, which include relay optics 550, field stop535, and a single lens for the exit optics 530. As illustrated in FIG.5, the body of the dual-tube scope may be thinner than the exit optics530. In this respect, a thin scope may be used with a larger mountand/or may produce images on a larger single light-receiving device 580than might otherwise be possible.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system 600 including a dual-tube stereoscope 610that includes dual distal lenses 660 and 661, dual waveguides 620 and621, field stop 635, and exit optics 630, which includes, for example, asingle lens. The dual waveguides 620 and 621 may be fiber optics orcoherent fiber bundles that transmit light received from dual distallenses 660 and 661, through the field stop 635, to the exit optics 630,and eventually a single image with two sub-images is captured by thesingle light-receiving device 680. As above, the single light-receivingdevice 680 may receive a single image with two sub-images that may laterbe processed for viewing as two separate images or to produce astereoscopic image.

Dual-tube stereoscopes may be used to produce dual images, stereoscopicimages, or may be used to extract or reconstruct depth from a scene inorder to produce 3D models. In some embodiments, the dual-tubestereoscope may be an endoscope, such as a laparoscope, enteroscope,colonoscope, sigmoidoscope, rectoscope, anoscope, proctoscope,rhinoscope, bronchoscope, otoscope, cystoscope, gynoscope, colposcope,hysteroscope, falloposcope, arthoscope, thoracoscope, mediastinoscope,amnioscope, fetoscope, laryngoscope, esophagoscope, bronchoscope,epiduroscope, and other types of surgical or medical scopes. Non-medicalscopes are also embodiments of scopes discussed herein, such asarchitectural endoscopes, which may be used for planning inarchitectural and pre-visualization of scale models. Additionally,embodiments of the scopes herein may be borescopes, which may be usedfor internal inspection of complex technical systems, for example.Additional scopes may include, in various embodiments, microscopes.

Systems for Dual-Tube Stereoscopes

As depicted in FIG. 7, an operator 792 may be able to manipulate a scope710 that may be placed in a mount 793 that includes camera 780. Themount may also include an optical coupler for coupling the camera 780 tothe scope 710. For example, as depicted in FIGS. 9A and 9B, a mount fora scope, such as an endoscope, borescope, etc, may have a camera 980Aand an optical coupler 998A integrated into the mount 973A. In someembodiments, the optical coupler 998B for the scope may be separablefrom and attachable to another portion of the camera system 973B thatincludes the camera 980B.

The camera 780 may include a single imager that would traditionallyreceive a single image corresponding to a single optical path, butinstead receives a single image containing two sub-images from the scope710. As discussed above, the two sub-images on the single image maylater be used for stereoscopic presentation, or to display a dual imagefrom the scope. A mount 793 may be connected or coupled to a camera hub795. The camera hub 795 may transmit the single image to a stereoscopicor monoscopic monitor 781 and the dual images may be displayed as rawdata or may first be processed by computer system 790 and returned tothe camera hub 795 for production of a dual image or stereoscopic imageon monitor 781. Camera hub 795 may also transmit the images to computersystem 790. The computer system 790 may then produce the two images fromthe two sub-images contained within the single received image capturedby the scope 710. The two images may be displayed together (e.g., sideby side) on monitor 783 or stereoscopically on monitor 783. Operator 792may also be wearing a head-mounted display 782 or 3D viewing glasses782. Multiple stereoscopic monitors 783 may present multiple copies ofthe stereoscopic images simultaneously for multiple viewers. Thecomputer system 790 may also be equipped with a digital recorder orother device that records the video stream being presented at one ormore of the displays 781, 782, and/or 783. For example, a program suchas “Fraps” or other stereo recording software may be used or integratedinto the computer 790 to record calibrated, aligned,distortion-corrected stereoscopic output.

In embodiments where the operator 792 is wearing 3D viewing glasses 782,the operator may view monitor 781 or 783 in order to see a stereoscopicimage of the objects, or images captured by scope 710. In embodimentswhere an operator 792 is wearing a head-mounted display 782, twosub-images captured by the scope 710 and transmitted from the mount 793to the camera hub 795, may be processed by the computer 790 in order toproduce dual images to be shown to the left and right eye of theoperator 792 by means of the head-mounted display 782. The operator mayalso manipulate or otherwise interact with the images and/or thecomputer system 790 using input devices 791, such as a mouse and/orkeyboard.

Kits for Dual-Tube Stereoscopes

Some embodiments include kits for use with or containing some or all ofthe parts for a dual-tube stereoscope. For example, one or more parts ofa dual-tube stereoscope may be disposable and those disposable parts maycome in a kit, such as a sterile bag. For example, if a sheathattachable to the distal end of the scope were removable and disposable,then a kit for the dual-tube stereoscope may include the sheath.

The processes and systems described herein may be performed on orencompass various types of hardware, such as computer systems. In someembodiments, computer 790, displays 781, 782, and 783, camera hub 795,and/or input device 791 may each be separate computer systems,applications, or processes, or may run as part of the same computersystems, applications, or processes—or one of more may be combined torun as part of one application or process—and/or each or one or more maybe part of or run on a computer system. A computer system may include abus or other communication mechanism for communicating information, anda processor coupled with the bus for processing information. Thecomputer systems may have a main memory, such as a random access memoryor other dynamic storage device, coupled to the bus. The main memory maybe used to store instructions and temporary variables. The computersystems may also include a read-only memory or other static storagedevice coupled to the bus for storing static information andinstructions. The computer systems may also be coupled to a display,such as a CRT or LCD monitor. Input devices may also be coupled to thecomputer system. These input devices may include a mouse, a trackball,keyboard, joystick, touch screen, or cursor direction keys.

Each computer system may be implemented using one or more physicalcomputers or computer systems, or portions thereof. The instructionsexecuted by the computer system may also be read in from acomputer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage mediummay be a CD, DVD, optical or magnetic disk, laserdisc, carrier wave, orany other medium that is readable by the computer system. In someembodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions executed by the processor.Communication among modules, systems, devices, and elements may be overdirect or switched connections, and wired or wireless networks orconnections, via directly connected wires, or via any other appropriatecommunication mechanism. The communication among modules, systems,devices, and elements may include handshaking, notifications,coordination, encapsulation, encryption, headers, such as routing orerror detecting headers, or any other appropriate communication protocolor attribute. Communication may also make use of messages related toHTTP, HTTPS, FTP, TCP, IP, ebMS OASIS/ebXML, secure sockets, VPN,encrypted or unencrypted pipes, MIME, SMTP, MIME Multipart/RelatedContent-type, SQL, etc.

The 3D graphics may be produced using two or more captured images and/orbased on underlying data models and projected onto one or more 2D planesin order to create left and right eye images for a head mount,lenticular, or other 3D display. Any appropriate 3D graphics processingmay be used for displaying or rendering, including processing based onOpenGL, Direct3D, Java 3D, etc. Whole, partial, or modified 3D graphicspackages may also be used, such packages including 3DS Max, SolidWorks,Maya, Form Z, Cybermotion 3D, or any others. In some embodiments,various parts of the needed rendering may occur on traditional orspecialized graphics hardware. The rendering may also occur on thegeneral-purpose CPU, on programmable hardware, on a separate processor,be distributed over multiple processors, over multiple dedicatedgraphics cards, or may use any other appropriate combination of hardwareor technique.

In some embodiments, displays 781, 782, and/or 783 present stereoscopic3D images to an operator, such as a physician. Stereoscopic 3D displaysdeliver separate imagery to each of the user's eyes. This can beaccomplished by a passive stereoscopic display, an activeframe-sequential stereoscopic display, a lenticular auto-stereoscopicdisplay, or any other appropriate type of display. The displays 781,782, and/or 783 may be passive alternating-row or alternating-columndisplays. Example of polarization-based alternating-row displays includethe Miracube G240S, as well as Zalman Trimon Monitors.Alternating-column displays include devices manufactured by Sharp, aswell as many “auto-stereoscopic” displays (e.g. by Philips). Displays781, 782, and/or 783 may also be cathode ray tubes (CRTs). CRT-baseddevices, may use temporal sequencing, showing imagery for the left andright eye in temporal sequential alternation; this method may also beused by newer, projection-based devices, as well as by rapidlyswitchable (e.g., 120 Hz) liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. In someembodiments, a user may wear a head-mounted display 782 in order toreceive 3D images from the computer system 790. In such embodiments, aseparate display, such as the pictured displays 781 and/or 783, may beomitted.

As will be apparent, the features and attributes of the specificembodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to formadditional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events, or functions of anyof the algorithms described herein can be performed in a differentsequence, can be added, merged, or left out all together (e.g., not alldescribed acts or events are necessary for the practice of thealgorithms). Moreover, in certain embodiments, acts or events can beperformed concurrently rather than sequentially, e.g., throughmulti-threaded processing, interrupt processing, or multiple processorsor processor cores, or on other parallel architectures.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can beimplemented as electronic hardware, as computer software, or ascombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. The described functionality can beimplemented in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks and modules described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented orperformed by a machine or computing device. Here the term ‘computingdevice’ includes its plain and ordinary meaning, including, but notlimited to any machine, hardware, or other device capable of performingcalculations or operations automatically, such as a general-purposeprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) orother programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor canbe a microprocessor, a controller, microcontroller, or state machine,combinations of the same, or the like. A processor can also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method, process, or algorithm described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM or other optical media, or any otherform of computer-readable storage medium known in the art. An exemplarystorage medium can be coupled to the processor such that the processorcan read information from, and write information to, the storage medium.In some embodiments, the storage medium can be integral to theprocessor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC.The ASIC can optionally reside in a user terminal. In some embodiments,the processor and the storage medium can reside as discrete componentsin a user terminal.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,”“might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically statedotherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, isgenerally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, whileother embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/orstates. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended toimply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required forone or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarilyinclude logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting,whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to beperformed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein, in which elements or functions may be deleted,executed out of order from that shown or discussed, includingsubstantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on thefunctionality involved, as would be understood by those skilled in theart.

All of the methods and processes described above may be embodied in, andfully automated via, software code modules executed by one or moregeneral-purpose computers or processors, such as those computer systemsdescribed above. The code modules may be stored in any type ofcomputer-readable medium or other computer storage device. Some or allof the methods may alternatively be embodied in specialized computerhardware.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

The following patents and publications are incorporated by referenceherein in their entireties for all purposes: U.S. Pat. No. 6,898,022,U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,595, U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,950, U.S. Pat. No.6,104,426, U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,049, U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,147 U.S. Pat.No. 5,603,687, U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,263, U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,789, U.S.Pat. No. 5,385,138, U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,477, U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,203,U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,650, U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,873, U.S. Pat. No.4,873,572, U.S. Pat. No. 7,277,120, and U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0151041.

1. A system for capturing images, comprising: an elongated bodycomprising: a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end having atleast one proximal opening, the distal end having first and seconddistal openings; a first waveguide coupled to the first distal opening;and a second waveguide coupled to the second distal opening; and opticssituated near the proximal end of the elongated body and configured toreceive light from the first and second waveguides and to transmit thereceived light onto a single light-receiving device.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein, when light is passed through the first and seconddistal openings, said light is transmitted through the first and secondwaveguides, through the optics, and through the at least one proximalopening, to produce two sub-images.
 3. The system of claim 2, whereinthe two sub-images are directly eye-viewable.
 4. The system of claim 2,wherein the system further comprises one or more computing devicesconfigured to process the two sub-images.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein the one or more processors are configured to remove distortionsin the two sub-images.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to calibrate or align the two sub-images. 7.The system of claim 1, wherein the single light-receiving device is acamera.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the single light-receivingdevice is a high-definition camera.
 9. The system of claim 1, whereinthe elongated body and optics, in combination, produce two approximatelydiffraction-limited resolution sub-images.
 10. The system of claim 9,wherein a resolution of the single light-receiving device is higher thanneeded to capture the two approximately diffraction-limited resolutionsub-images.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein said optics comprise ashared optical element that combines the light received from the firstand second waveguides and produces the two sub-images on the singlelight-receiving device.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein said opticscomprise two or more optical elements that transmit the light receivedfrom the first and second waveguides to the single light-receivingdevice.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein said optics are situatedinside said elongated body.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein thesystem further comprises entry optics coupled to the distal end toprovide for capturing light at an angle at the distal end.
 15. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a first fieldstop positioned within a first optical path associated with the firstwaveguide and a second field stop positioned within a second opticalpath associated with the second waveguide.
 16. A method for producingdual images using a single light-receiving device and a dual-tubestereoscope, comprising: receiving light through two distal lenses;transmitting the received light to two waveguides; transmitting lightfrom the two waveguides onto a single light-receiving device as a singleimage containing two sub-images; and processing the single image toproduce two images based at least in part on the two sub-images.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises displaying thetwo produced images stereoscopically to an operator of the dual-tubestereoscope.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein processing the singledigital image comprises calibrating or aligning the two sub-images. 19.The method of claim 18, wherein the method further comprisestransmitting the light through two field stops, and wherein the twosub-images that have been produced, at least in part, are based on thelight passed through the two field stops.
 20. The method of claim 16,wherein the method further comprises recording monoscopic orstereoscopic video of the two images produced based at least in part onthe two sub-images.
 21. A system for processing dual-tube stereoscopeimages, comprising: an image receiver configured to receive a singledigital image from a single light-receiving device, the single digitalimage comprising two sub-images, the two sub-images having been receivedat the single light-receiving device from optics, which in turn receivedlight from dual waveguides in a scope; and one or more computing devicesconfigured to process the single digital image in order to produce oneresulting image for each of the two sub-images.
 22. The system of claim21, wherein processing the single digital image comprises removingdistortions in the two sub-images.
 23. The system of claim 21, whereinprocessing the single digital image comprises calibrating the twosub-images.
 24. A method for processing dual-tube stereoscope images,comprising: receiving a single digital image from a singlelight-receiving device, the single digital image comprising twosub-images, the two sub-images having been received at the singlelight-receiving device from optics, which in turn received light fromdual waveguides in a scope; and processing the single digital image inorder to produce one resulting image for each of the two sub-images. 25.The method of claim 24, wherein processing the single digital imagecomprises calibrating the two sub-images.
 26. The method of claim 16,wherein the method further comprises displaying the two resulting imagesstereoscopically to an operator of the dual-tube stereoscope.